Family Affairs and other matters

DIARY OF A LONDON MARATHON RUNNER: 7 WEEKS AND COUNTING

Here is the second installment of my guest blogger friend who is running the marathon. I don't think she realises how far she has come already. The training programme makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever:- I hope I’m not turning into a seriously boring running freak although I do seem to talk about it a lot now (to everyone). The check out girls in supermarket glaze over when I go to pay as I casually mention for the hundredth time that all the healthy food and vitamin drinks are in the trolley because I AM RUNNING A MARATHON AND IT’S BLOODY UNBELIEVABLE!! I do keep forgetting it’s not really that interesting for anybody else… so please forgive me if I bore you rigid too. It’s all L’s fault anyway for asking me to write about it! The marathon was an accident really. Didn’t ever think in a million years it was something I would do/could do but I got a bit over-excited watching a friend do it last year and promptly put my name in the ballot not thinking I would ever get a free place as a first time entrant. Unbelievably I did get a place but unfortunately none of my friends did – so I am training on my own which isn’t ideal but in some ways good as I can go at my own pace which is important. The first thing I had to do on New Year’s Eve (like everybody else) was to give up drinking which considering I have been drinking like a fish since my late teens wasn’t as hard as I thought. I had given up a few times last year as part of a detox anyway so I knew I could do it – it’s just a question of breaking the habit of opening that bottle of wine as soon as you put the children to bed. So gave up alcohol, tried to eat healthily and started to run a lot. Not that far at first but the most important thing is just to get your body used to running and running frequently. Apparently the most common problem with most marathon runners is just running too far too soon. The training plan I have consists of a number of phases where each phase comprises of a four week programme. The workload in the first three weeks of the four week programme increases every week (easy, medium and hard) and the fourth week comprises of active recovery. The training programme identifies three running paces: M+5%, M and M-5% which is basically marathon pace (M) and less or more. I was quite happy taking it easy at first with little 3 mile and 5 mile runs. My first week comprised of: Monday - 3 mile @ M-5% Tuesday – rest day Wednesday – circuit training in park Thursday – 40 minute fartlek* Friday – 3 miles @ M-5% Saturday – rest Sunday – 6 miles @M+5% • fartlek - taken from the Swedish words for "speed play." The workout consists of easy running with the addition of hills or short fast bursts .. This phase increased gradually till the third week I was running a maximum of 8 miles on the Sunday. Seven weeks on and I am now doing this a week: Monday - 5 miles @ M-5% Tuesday – rest day Wednesday – circuit training in park Thursday – 60 minute fartlek Friday – 8 miles @ M-5% Saturday – rest Sunday – 15 miles @M+5% So after phase 1 and 2 I am now on phase 3 and have had to up my game and am now running about 40 miles a week. The furthest I have done so far was 15 miles last Sunday in the pouring rain – not fun at all. According to my trainer a bit of toast before I set off was not nearly enough. I was meant to have a huge bowl of porridge and then loads of those revolting health gels on the way round. Now got to buy a belt that makes me look like something out of a Wild West film to store them all. It also suddenly hit home that I am not a born athlete and I can feel aches and pains all over – which slightly worries me. My trainer says just sit in an ice bath for 15 minutes. What on earth is he talking about? I can’t even bear to dip my toe in cold water for a nano second let alone sit in an iced bath and go completely blue! I know he’s right of course. – “No pain, no gain” blah blah but like I said I am not an athlete and it certainly doesn’t seem like normal behaviour. It is now 53 days and counting. Oh God.

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